Holiday Eating Plans

(Hopefully this thread isn't a duplicate.)

What are you guys' holiday eating plans? Or rather, your survival plans? Will you be eating tofu burgers all Hanukkah or carrot sticks on Xmas? Or are you pigging out big time? (Incidentally, how many of you have to buy Halloween candy the day before Halloween or give out raisins so you wont eat it all?)

I'm going to be fairly good these months, but I also won't deprive myself. And as far as I'm concerned, the holiday itself is fair game for anything. For example, I'm planning a really great Halloween party and I see no reason not to enjoy it. There's no way I can eat 3500 past my limit, yes? ;) I'm also using a lot of fruits and I'll attempt to lighten up the recipes. I'm really, really excited.

One of the issues I've been having though is the cold. I don't really want to make a fruit smoothie or down a cold apple when it's snowing, you know? How do you guys stay nutritious, especially with fruits, in the winter? Any warm healthy recipes are certainly welcome.

I'm curious to see how you guys are planning to get through. :)

personally i'm looking forward to it because there's so many great foods to gain weight on, BUT.... trying to be healthy, think of all the yummy squash that will be in season! butternut squash, spaghetti squash, pumpkin... yum. :)

Good question. To me, Halloween is the start of the holiday season in terms of my diet. If I make it ok thru Halloween, I have a good shot at keeping my eating under control thru the holidays. If I lose control at Halloween, it is often the beginning of a two-month binge. Here are my tips (which I don't always follow, but they're good tips anyway):

Don't buy candy until the actual day of Halloween, and then buy something you really don't like and won't be tempted by.

Never go to a party hungry, even if it means eating healthy things right before you leave for a dinner party.

If Thanksgiving/Christmas/Chanukkah is a pot luck, select your favorite high calorie item to bring (for me, it's sweet potato casserole) and prepare a lighter version of it. Most likely, no one will notice and you can indulge without doing too much damage.

Selzer with a slice of lemon or lime will get you through any social occasion involving drinking.

This year, I am resolute. I've lost 17 pounds since I started in June, and by the end of the year, I intend to lose at least another 10.

Ah! I cannot WAIT until Thanksgiving - I would LOVE some turkey breast & all my yummy veggie side dishes I make! Oh I am counting down the days... not quite sure what the main meal will be for X-Mas (eve & day) & News Years, but I am pretty sure these meals will all be delicious - we will probably have either Elk Rack (like a Rack of Lamb except it's elk)... or Wild King Salmon (whole, poached)... or More Turkey (breast galore for me)... We shall see but all I know for sure is that I am stoked for the holidays and love that it's looking FALL like outside!

I think I want to just avoid the whole issue of dieting during the holidays. One of my goals is to do the weight loss without feeling deprived (not too much anyway).

I'm thinking of coping by switching to maintenance for the month of December. I've been cc-ing since mid-august, and come december, it'll be about 2.5 months. So I'll take a month off deficit eating, switch to about 2000 a day for December, then come back in January.

I plan to have a few treats and I'll probably go over maintenance, but I'm not one to stuff myself silly - the food part of the celebrations for me is about eating delicious, good quality food - not an especially high quantity.

For me, Christmas and New Year's come at the height of summer, so perhaps I am used to eating lighter fare anyway. In the past my family has taken a big picnic hamper of salads, cold cuts of meat, smoked salmon, roast veges in a warmer and some lighter desserts like pavolva and summer berry pudding out to the beach or a forest park for lunch.

Then in the evening we eat lightly from the leftovers and enjoy some fruit cake, bishop's bread or steamed Christmas pudding with homemade custard and a few drinks all around... bliss!

Because we always have so many salads, we can eat for days from the leftovers, just adding the cold cuts of meat and chopped cold roast veges to bulk up the salads into a great main meal.

I am eating all of my traditional favorite holiday meals.  I will perhaps just have smaller portions of them. 

Thanksgiving: sauerkraut, stuffing, a turkey drumstick, a lot of a green vegetable

Christmas Eve: sauerkraut & mushroom soup, 2 pierogies (don't like them much) wiped of the massive amount of butter my mom puts on them, sauteed onions, peas

Christmas: brunch casserole, a little of everything we have for dinner (I think I will suggest ham)

I plan on making a christmas brunch casserole while at school and having a piece for breakfast for several days....bread on the bottom, then sausage crumbles, then shredded cheddar cheese, with a scrambled egg/milk mixture poured over all...bake and enjoy!

I will eat intuitively...what I want.  No deprivation.

Add me to the list of eating smaller portions of everything I like.  Except my slice of pumpkin pie will not be small!!

The holidays aren't necessarily about food, and as I spend half of them with my in-laws, I tend to eat less anyway (I just don't like their food as well, lucky me!)

My downfall will be the grazing pre and post meal.  Cookies, cheese, cookies, crackers, cookies etc...

Eh, the holidays do not worry me anymore. I rarely eat any candy on Halloween, and I've gotten so much better at stopping when I'm full on Thanksgiving and Christmas. yes, it does kind of suck to not have room for dessert, but if I'm full from dinner then I'm not gonna shove pie down my throat. That's what leftovers are for.

Also, my family holiday gatherings are pretty mellow, so nobody's trying to overfeed me or "judging" me based on my smaller portions. They'll offer, but if I'm not hungry then they don't push it. I'm very excited about all the holidays this year.

Last holiday season I gained 10 lbs after doing very well... constantly baking things and grazing on everything and eating waaay too much. I didn't count calories after a while because I knew I was overdoing it big time.  This year, I will indulge but seriously watch my portions and how many cookies and kolache I munch on!

Well, normally I just kinda plan to splurge a little (sometimes a lot :) during the holiday season, and not worry about the few extra pounds until after the New Year, but this year I really have to be more careful. I am getting married in July, so I have dress shopping to do, so I really need to stay on my weight loss plan. 

However, that being said, that does not mean that I will be sitting there on Thanksgiving or Christmas eating a plain salad while everyone else has delicious holiday food. On the actual holidays, I will give myself a free pass to enjoy a nice dinner with my family and eat whatever I want. Two big meals aren't gonna kill me, and I plan to enjoy them! 

My plan is to try to avoid the other "holiday" treats.....Halloween candy for all of October; pumpkin pies and cookies and other evils baked by neighbors, or sent by clients to our office. The holidays are an excuse to graze your way from Oct-Dec, but I am not gonna do it this year! I am really going to try to be smart this year :)

I'm planning thanksgiving week and christmas week as maintenance weeks, and having smaller portions than I have in the past (and not seconds, and thirds, and snacking constantly ha)

This will be the first year of regulating myself at the holidays.

Halloween is no biggie for me, I'm not a huge candy person. I'm more about the chocolate cake, choco ice cream, brownies, or cobblers.

I'm not even a pumpkin pie or pecan pie eater, so that won't be a big deal at thanks/christmas. But my aunts make cheesecake and chocolate cream pies and coconut pies to die for!! yes I'm having some of each! :)

I figure I never got fat from a piece of pie at Thanksgiving or Christmas, so I plan on enjoying the "special" parts of each of the holidays, and will plan maintenance days for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve/Day, and New Year's Eve/Day.  6 days out of 2 months won't kill my new lifestyle.  The parties/plates of treats/general mayhem of the "holiday season" I plan to just continue as I am now, anything goes as long as I can fit it into my plan, I don't want to have to lose any weight next year that I gain this year. 

It will also be really important for me to just keep moving every day.  Shopping as an aerobic activity, anyone?

Original Post by dkenworthy:

 

It will also be really important for me to just keep moving every day.  Shopping as an aerobic activity, anyone?

Oh definitely!

I'm korean so I don't really have this problem.. did have this problem at my friends house though, LOTS of cookies! o_O oh dear. I'll be eating pretty much the same or more I guess, new years only comes around once a year!

AND yes to shopping. DEFINITELY. So many sales starting from black friday until new years.. it's amazing....

I’m going to eat at maintenance on Thanksgiving & Christmas Eve/Day.

New years isn’t about food for us, so no problem there.  I don’t eat a lot of food volume wise but I love fatty foods. Not big on sweets so a sliver of pecan pie will satisfy that. And if I gain then I know how to take it off. Yum cant wait!